About

Body Doubles raises complex questions about the relationship between the body and identity, and explores the myriad ways that artists have used the body to challenge boundaries—between the individual and society, male and female, interior and exterior, normal and transgressive. As the plurality of the exhibition’s title suggests, Body Doubles recognizes that the body is not fixed but rather in a perpetual state of flux and transformation. The exhibition explores two parallel ideas: first, that multiple bodies can perform one identity (akin to the role of the “body double” in cinema); and second, that multiple identities can exist within one body.

Drawn largely from the MCA’s permanent collection, the exhibition features artists who highlight the body as an object (something that we have), the body as a subject (something that we are), and the body as an ongoing performance (something that we become). These contemporary artists use the body as a tool for radical transformation as reflected through the lenses of sexuality, gender, class, age, and race. They think about the body as a positive problem, or, to borrow Thomas Osborn’s words, as a “vehicle for thought and action.”

Exhibition Broadsheets

To broaden the conversation around the themes presented in Body Doubles, the MCA commissioned artists Aay Preston-Myint and Latham Zearfoss to create an artists’ publication for visitors to use as a reference in the galleries. Preston-Myint and Zearfoss convened a group of local artists, educators, and activists for a round-table conversation about transgender identity. Excerpts from their conversation are included in this pair of broadsheets with art by Edie Fake and Daniel Luedtke.

Funding

Support for Body Doubles is generously provided by the Pritzker Traubert Collection Exhibition Fund. Additional generous support is provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship program and Sara Szold.